The Waters of Meribah

20

The Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried
there.

2 Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and against Aaron.3The people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had died when our kindred died before the L
ord!4Why have you brought the assembly of the L
ord into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here?5Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to
drink.”6Then Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting; they fell on their faces, and the glory of the L
ord appeared to them.7The L
ord spoke to Moses, saying:8Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aaron, and command the rock before their eyes to yield its water. Thus you shall bring water out of
the rock for them; thus you shall provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.

9 So Moses took the staff from before the L
ord, as he had commanded him.10Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”11Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank.12But the L
ord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into
the land that I have given them.”13These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the L
ord, and by which he showed his holiness.

Passage through Edom Refused

14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the adversity that has befallen us:15how our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians oppressed us and our ancestors;16and when we cried to the L
ord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt; and here we are in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.17Now let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from any well; we will go along the King’s Highway, not turning aside to
the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

18 But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, or we will come out with the sword against you.”19The Israelites said to him, “We will stay on the highway; and if we drink of your water, we and our livestock, then we will pay for it. It is only a small matter;
just let us pass through on foot.”20But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large force, heavily armed.21Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through their territory; so Israel turned away from them.

The Death of Aaron

22 They set out from Kadesh, and the Israelites, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.23Then the L
ord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom,24“Let Aaron be gathered to his people. For he shall not enter the land that I have given to the Israelites, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of
Meribah.25Take Aaron and his son Eleazar, and bring them up Mount Hor;26strip Aaron of his vestments, and put them on his son Eleazar. But Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there.”27Moses did as the L
ord had commanded; they went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole congregation.28Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments, and put them on his son Eleazar; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Moses and Eleazar came down from the
mountain.29When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.

6.And Moses and Aaron went from the presence. It is probable that they fled in fear, inasmuch as the tabernacle was a kind of refuge for them from the violence of the people. Still, we may conjecture from other passages that they had consideration not only for themselves, but for the
wretched people, howsoever unworthy of it they might be so also, when they throw themselves upon their faces, I understand that they did so, not so much (to pray) that God would protect them from the wrath of their enemies, but also that He would calm these madmen by some appropriate remedy. Still their agitation appears to have been such as to deprive them of their ordinary self-restraint. Neither, indeed, does God try their faith and patience, as He often did on other occasions; perhaps
because He saw that they were too much overwhelmed to be able to persevere inflexibly in pious zeal, patience, and care for the public good. Consequently the appearance to them of God’s glory was a support for their weakness, as in a case of extremity.

This example shows us how earnestly God should be entreated constantly to support us with new supplies of His grace, since otherwise the boldest of us all would fail at every moment. The invincible resolution of Moses had so often overcome every obstacle, that there seemed to be no fear of his being in danger of falling; yet the conqueror in so many struggles at length stumbles in a single act. Hence we should more carefully bear in mind the
exhortation of Paul: Because

“it is God which worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure,” we should “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12, 13.)